Checking in

I haven’t really had time to blog, what with the new job ‘n’ all. But to make up for it, here’s a quick digest of things Casablanca.

I’m loving the new job! I’m working with a good bunch of people, and they’ve got some amazing clients – so far, I’ve just been working on the NHS Choices project. The NHS wants to up their game in terms of preventative medicine and treatment – not just reactive treament – and the website will play a central role in this initiative. So it’s all about helping people lead healthy lifestyles. I’m starting off in a project management role, but will swap hats from time to time to lead innovation workshops, and that kind of thing. I’m currently trying to figure out what role VRM can play in all of this, and very much looking forward to the VRM workshops taking place in London on 3rd November.

I’ve also had fun trying to turn TiddlyWiki into a reporting tool for our project managers (for internal and external stakeholders). The subject of an imminent blog post…

I’ve resisted linking to our company website up to now as it’s pretty awful. The good news is that it’s going to be completely overhauled by Christmas, so I’ll link to some design assets as soon as they’re signed off internally. I can reveal that it’s a considerable improvement…

And I’ve had great fun exploring the general area around my office too! We’re based in London Bridge (11 Southwark Street), and I had no idea how interesting this area is away from the river. Apart from the luscious Borough Market, there’s all sorts of interesting buildings and people, not to mention a brand of Monmouth Coffee Shop that’s brimming with character. I’ve started taking photos which I’m sharing in a growing photo set on Flickr.

In other news, I’m now the proud curator of a Macbook Air, courtesy of my new employers. I say proud; I wish for starters that I’d waited a day or two and picked up the new model with the larger hard drive. And I still think its a mistake building a laptop without an ethernet port. I have to walk around the building with the USB to ethernet dongle hanging out, and it swings like a tail. Still, apart from these minor concerns, it really is a smashing laptop and I’m one of the lucky few in the office to have a laptop at all.

What else? Oh, I’ve been watching True Blood. It’s a new show from the ever dependable HBO, and the premise is that vampires have come ‘out of the coffin’ and are integrating into society in the US deep South. It’s well worth the effort, although I should stress that those who don’t like weird sex scenes should probably steer clear…

Last but not least, I’ve finally gotten around to finishing The Black Swan. I can put my hand on my heart and say that it’s one of the most interesting, thought provoking and challenging books I’ve read in years. I’ll never read or watch the news in the same way again. I’ll be encouraging the project managers in my team to read it, no doubt.