reflections

I need to open this post by apologising for the sporadic level of posts recently… Everything’s managed to catch up with me the last few weeks, leaving me with little time to blog or comment on all my usual daily reads. I’m off on my holidays tomorrow though - and I’m hoping to return to a more relaxed schedule!

Aaron Russell tagged me with this almost three weeks ago (has it really been that long?!?), and he was originally tagged by Marc Rapp - the creator of this fantastic meme. Aaron managed to weasel out of giving anybody any real advice though (only kidding mate), so I felt I should at least try to impart some pearls of wisdom!

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Information Architects have released their Web Trend Map for 2007 - a subway-style map of the top 200 sites on the web. It’s ordered by category, proximity, success, popularity and perspective - and it demonstrates the relationship between various sites and ideas, with a strong focus on Web 2.0.

I love this sort of stuff, in geeky sort of way - but I don’t recommended that you try reading this with a hangover (Tess, that means you!). You can also download the PDF version.

Improvements from the first version include the addition of new websites (from countries including Japan, Germany and China), the renaming of the lines, the addition of forecast, and new labels that indicate how forward-thinking sites are (for example, Flickr and Facebook have been labeled as web 2.5 sites).

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I hate giving business presentations, and I do anything I can to avoid them! It’s not that I’m bad at them (many years of practice has made me quite good), it has nothing to do with me not liking to talk (anyone who’s met me will tell you that I can talk the hind legs off a donkey), and it’s certainly not anything to do with nerves (being a DJ means that I regularly find myself on stage in front of large audiences). I just don’t like them - simple as that!

I’ve had many labels stuck on me in the past; including Techie, Geek, Designer and Coder - but recently I’ve been called an Entrepreneur, which is a new one for me! The label stems from my development of Britster - a niche social networking site focused on Britain - and carries with it the threat of presenting the project to potential venture capitalists and the like.

I plan to write a few articles covering this topic, but one of the most important aspects of a presentation is the materials you use to reinforce your sales pitch. They can make the difference between a successful presentation and one that flops - so from slides and brochures to props and snacks, here are the essentials that entrepreneurs should bring to their first meeting.

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Wow! What a week! The last seven days have been hectic to say the least, and I’m still in the thick of it now!

The good news is that Britster has finally made it to the Alpha Test phase! I’ve got a great team of testers to work with too, including several bloggers and friends. So the site should be making it’s first public appearance at the end of this month - subject to anything going chronically wrong with it before then!

I’m off on holiday on the 28th though, and I’ve got a shed-load of stuff (including Britster) to get done before I vanish for a fortnight. I’m hoping to write some articles in advance though, so you lot will have something to read while I’m building sandcastles! Any suggestions?

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Just a quick note to apologise for the sudden drop in posts this week, which unfortunately will continue until after the weekend. My workload has reached an all-time high - with Britster requiring some final adjustments before it hits beta, two new WordPress sites to design and build, and a data capture microsite to develop - and all by Monday! Aaarrgh!

If my head doesn’t explode from the stress, then I’ll be back to form on Monday evening.

If you want a great soundtrack for your weekend, then check out the classic funky house mix by Aaron Russell over on miLienzo.com.

11 July 2007 - Update: make that Wednesday night…

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