Five phases of social business maturity by Econsultancy

Five phases of social business maturity 

I quite like this article by Econsultancy on social business maturity... It shows actually how companies know what stage they are at, how to recognise when you are ready to move on and how to actually encourage social media growth and capability to allow them to move through the stages.

"We define the journey not in terms of what you’re doing inside your business, but rather in terms of what you are creating for your customer.  I think we’d all agree that, before there was a social business, there was a social customer." 

Gazette - allez les bleus!

So tonight, as my son is away, my husband and I decided to have a little date night...


We were going to go to the very delicious French, family-run, Chez Manny in Battersea High St which we like a lot but decided at the last minute to try another French Battersea restaurant called Gazette, just off the river in Sherwood Court.




Firstly, obviously had to get dressed up - which was a little strange on a windy, rainy Monday night. I had bought a dress based on a blog post by The Londoner at the Tatler Restaurant Awards - this bodycon uber short black dress from Missguided.  A total bargain to boot.

I styled it with a belt and leggings as it was super cold out and only a Monday. Shoe wise - some platform black studded shoeboots. I combined all that with big eyelashes, messy hair and some metallic eye shadow. The photo is a bit blurry - its a super flattering dress though...

The restaurant is tucked away down by the river and is very unassuming. It is genuinely surprising how lovely the interiors are when you walk in - brushed concrete walls, some rendered cream, blackboard tables with chalk so you can draw on them and a big wooden bar.  There is a fantastic upstairs space too with a glass private room for up to 12 people.  They also had colouring books and kids chairs/kids menus for the smaller guests.

The atmosphere was pretty buzzy as they had been showing the England v France football match, and quite a few tables were still there. These included a super civilized bunch of French football fans, 5 blokes about 26-28 who after the match had stayed for a steak, red wine and cheese board. This was a far cry from the English fans you normally see who are drunk on beer and eating kebabs...

After a well earned Gordons N Tonic, we tucked into some seriously good classic French food - with some unusual twists in some dishes.

 

To start, we had a trio of terrines to share: Foie Gras, Campagne rustic and Pork Head - I was so excited about eating it that I forgot to take a picture til it was half eaten.  The Foie Gras was everything that you could hope for from it; rich, creamy and tasted slightly of honey, and was complemented by a pear chutney you can see top left in the picture.  The Pork head was set in aspic and was great to try and some of the meat was truly scrumptious but it wouldn't be my first choice if I were there again. To coin a phrase, I couldn't eat a whole one!  The Campagne terrine was another hit, tasting a little like the inside of a Toulouse sausage or a course Ardennes pate with lots of hers.  They served a generous portion of delicious bread and some seriously wonderful French butter as well.


Then to the mains... We both opted for Steaks. Me, a Rib Eye, medium rare. My husband, a fillet Chateaubriand cut, blue and made utterly decadent by the addition of a golden fried slide of Foie Gras. 2 portions of Foie Gras in one meal... the man is an addict! Fries with Bearnaise sauce and some delicious baby spinach with garlic finished up our feast. Mine was a tiny bit less rare than I like - I did ask for French rare but got more of a medium to be honest but it was perfectly seasoned.  The bearnaise and fries were home made and utter perfection - crispy, creamy and totally yummy.

To drink, we had a carafe of utterly fruity Bordeaux which was superbly reasonably priced and very, very smooth.  The staff were quite French and funny - sometimes humorous, and sometimes a little shirty, but I love that in a French restaurant! It doesn't feel authentic if the staff are all polite and British about things!  To finish up what was a pretty huge meal, we skipped dessert and just had a wonderful coffee before wandering home for a whiskey and  some music.  It was very much like what we used to do regularly before our son came along to make us sensible adults.

Definitely well worth a visit (they have a branch in Balham too), I would certainly recommend Gazette.  They also do Sunday Lunches that are to die for and have lots of special events like Moules Tuesdays, Bastille Day parties and crab season specials.  A real local Battersea hidden gem of a restaurant and bar, I will be back... regularly.

How to avoid hipsters in London...

Just in case you wondered where to hang out in London but really are adverse to hipsters lurking around in skinny weird trousers and seasonally inappropriate hats, here is a quick guide to the areas of London graded by cost and hipster-ness courtesy of Hostelbookers.com

If you want to know how to identify a hipster, try this guide of how to be a hipster

They think its all over...
I was reading this very to the point Huff Post article by Julia Plevin on "Who's a Hipster?" where she proclaims "the definition of "hipster" remains opaque to anyone outside this self-proclaiming, highly-selective circle" - which seems eminently true and also that most hipsters are in hipster-denial and that potentially, finally, after 70 years of being fairly pointlessly subversive by wearing a lot of plaid and glasses, and sometimes just being downright obtuse, the hipster may finally be dead.

Google Search Coverage Maps - How many searches???

Video demonstrating the newer Google Search Coverage Map...

Is Facebook about to do everything?? According to the media it is...

Honestly - the journos of the world seem to think that Facebook is like a giant alien race trying to take over the Earth, like in this Guardian article about Facebook here where they think the whole IPO was a conspiracy

The rumours abound of what Facebook will do next.... Make a mobile phone, buy Opera the Browser company and replace Instagram with Facebook Camera - oh they actually are doing the last one...

I know that Facebook does push to innovate on a startlingly regular basis and not always with much thought of their user's sensibilities and aversion to change. I always find it ironic that the newest of innovations, once it reaches critical mass, is subject to the usual human rubbish of not wanting to change anything about it...


To listen to all the blow ups in the news around in the last week or two since the Facebook IPO, you would think that this was the biggest thing to ever happen in the history of everything, not just a fancy pants sharing site going public...

The site can only remain relevant while it innovates and I think will only achieve its true advertising potential when ads can be served and tracked as part of a regular campaign. The adverts on there can achieve startling ROI for brands in terms of sales figures and can, if done properly, create real engagement with the current fans/consumers and drive incremental growth through driving new consumers as well. However, some advertisers are not seeing the value - cue GM's pull of its $10m advertising spend on Facebook recently.

Facebook is a powerful tool for sharing and increasingly for advertisers, but it is hardly the Decepticons... so please can the media stop overhyping and getting far too overexcited about a company going about normal company things like trying to expand and make money!!

They may be a bit dubious on the privacy front etc but they never promised to be Google and "not be evil" - we shouldn't assume that digital/internet companies have the ideal outlook on being good online citizens...

Pod Living and the freedom to think

Sometimes I would just love to go and live with seriously great wifi in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. Today is one of those days...

The closest I have come to this was living in a house I called the Pod in Battersea. It was round, looked like it had been built by hobbits and was a little bit like living in a space station. It wasn't in the middle of nowhere, but it was pretty interesting.

There are so many cool pod type houses out there but here are a few of my favourites!


FinCube - Damn Cool Looking.

 The Fincube by Berlin's Studio Aisslinger

This new housing is modular, sustainable and transportable. The low energy house, named ‘Fincube’, is comprised of thin horizontal “ledges” of locally grown wood that wrap the slightly bulging form.
The Fincube is installed on four columns whose height is adjusted to the topographic conditions. The elevation of the plot underlines the cubic form of the construction. Access is made available via a staircase.

With the use of natural materials such as wood, stone, and glass, and with low-energy construction techniques and minimum soil sealing, Fincube meets sustainable construction methods.Organized in a helical structure, the entrance area blends into a generous open kitchen, with an adjacent living space and a bedroom around the corner.


1938 Mountain Pod Recreated

A futuristic mountain pod - or the Refuge Barrel (Refuge Tonneau), as it was originally called- designed by Charlotte Perriand in 1938 has been authentically reconstructed by Cassina. Originally created as a refuge for climbers in the Alps the dodecahedral pod, has an aluminum exterior and a fir wooden interior. Purposely designed to be both lightweight and sturdy, the prefab structure sits on stilts which provide good stability, even on the roughest and steep terrain.

 Underwater Living with H20ME
I am totally obsessed with the idea of an underwater house and think it would be the best thing ever!

The world’s first undersea residence has 3600 square feet of uncompromising elegance situated in 40 feet of crystal clear water surrounded by a magnificent coral reef, where the ever changing view is fascinating and absolutely unique.

Your H2OME is in Belize, in a protected private lagoon connected to land by your private pier. Floating above and accessed by elevator is a cluster of floating buildings, including a warm water outdoor spa, the central entrance lounge, docking space for a yacht and an enclosed building for your Triton submarine as well as space for a wide array of water toys.

And, let’s not forget the floating helicopter landing pad!














Finally the fantastic Archipod

Have you ever seen anything cooler? I so want one for my son when he is older....

The Archipod is a prefabricated red cedar shingle-clad insulated structure that opens with a gullwing door. The spherical unit is complete with a built in ergonomic desk, drawers , porthole windows and skylight and is wired with dimmable lights, an electric heater, outlets, a phone line and even a smoke alarm!

The ‘Pod’ is primarily suited to use as a garden office, but could easily be adapted to anything you choose: Playroom, Studio, Hobby Room, Meditation/ Quiet Room, Outside entertaining/Dining Room, Tree House!

Otters make me so happy...

This genius little post has just about made my day from red scharlach of Otters that Look like Benedict Cumberbatch makes me happy on so many levels!! I love otters and memes that spring up out of nowhere... this fulfils both and therefore fills me with glee on a day that started with tears and grumps...

My son is away for a few days and I miss him so so much.

As if I didn't find enough things to beat myself up about and feel guilty, I feel terrible about not spending enough time with my son. I hate having to go out to work all the time and not being there for him. I miss out on so much, but I know it is the only thing I can do to make sure my husband and I can give him everything we want to give him in his life.  Doesn't mean it can't make me cry every once in a while. Especially when I won't get to see him for 3 days.

I might sound like a spoilt brat but I want to have my cake and eat it. I can't however. but I can listen to the Glee soundtrack and look at Otter memes to cheer me up a little

So here's to you Benedict Cumberbatch, you crazy otter-esque legend... and thank you internet for raising a smile on my face today.