Matt Connolly

Friday. Finally.

2007-06-22T18:40:00.000-07:00

Seems like it's been a long old week. Maybe that's because we've been constantly connected and so have achieved more in the week than we'd tend to. Maybe it's because I've managed to catch up with a few different sets of friends every night and I'm need of a good night's sleep!

Busy old day, but a good one. Headed to the FT for the morning for an interview for the FT podcast. Good to get a feel for how and where they work. Little disappointed there were no plug sockets in their reception area (only joking!).

Had good interview with Peter Whitehead, lunched with the t-mobile PR guys Brands2Life and then got treated to a trip on the London Eye. Would have been more fun if we didn't have to spend the entire 4o minute round trip in front of a camera lens, but hey, all good publicity I guess.

A few more snaps, this time with the FT photographer and we were on our way to Paddington.

Now writing my last post as we're pulling in to Bristol. It's been a good week.

Summary:
After thinking I'd struggle for things to say about mobile working, it's been a real eye opener. We've built up a load of learning which can have real value for us as individuals and for Enable. Look forward to doing another project like it. Question was asked whether I'd use the technology after this project. Answer - yes. Definitely.

Aeroplane lunch anyone?

2007-06-21T17:55:00.000-07:00

What a random experience. Heading to the airport with nowhere to go. Having some lunch. Then heading back again.

I've been on the Heathrow Express a few times, but never in a business capacity. There has to be a certain irony to the fact they're really marketing the train's t-mobile wireless connection whilst at the same time there are no plug sockets (yes, I'm still ranting about them) and only tables in first class. Shocker.

That said, on the basis you've got a charged laptop and you're in first class, it's a top notch experience.

Sitting in the airport I also realised what a pleasure this week has been not constantly signing up up for wireless vouchers. I don't know if there are many people as obsessed as I am, but wherever there is wireless hostpot you'll invariably find me tapping in my credit card details for an hour of connectivity. In fact it's pretty frequent that I try and connect at each of the railway stations on the way home just to squeeze all the value from my hours voucher!

Also, I'm not sure if there are as many people as inpatient as me, but I get massively frustrated with just how difficult it is to buy these vouchers. It's as if they create the sign up as some kind of social filter to enable only the digitally elite to connect.

Anyway, was back in London for early afternoon. Headed up to a client's for a quick catch up (where I spent the first few minutes plugging in all the technology!) and am now wrapping up my day in a park near Euston.

Summary:
Still having battery issues. Quite amused because I've received loads of emails from people reading this blog who have suffered from the same problems. At least I'm not alone! Heathrow is, well what can I say, Heathrow. Proved my theory about uninspiring places being good places for me to get work done. Look forward to what tomorrow has in store.

Back in London

2007-06-21T10:52:00.000-07:00

Was kind of sorry to leave Brighton. It's got much of the same feel as Bristol has. So today's a little less glamorous that it has been.

First stop London Victoria. Then cab up to Paddington where I am now. In a few minutes I'll be jumping on the Heathrow Express to ... you guessed it London Heathrow. I shouldn't complain really. I've got loads of work to get through and somewhere pretty uninspiring should be just the ticket.

Funnily enough I've come up against my battery issue a little early on today. I'm not sure if I didn't properly charge my laptop last night, or if the work I've been doing this morning used an inordinate amount of power. Getting out the cab at Paddington my first job had to be to find a socket to feed my laptop.

I crazily assumed that as one of the main audiences for the Heathrow Express has to be the business traveller, they'd certainly provide a plug socket for them. Oh, how wrong I was. I jumped on the train, had a quick search around and had to jump straight off.

I know it may sound a little dramatic, but today I have no literally no spare time. Losing 20 minutes stuck on a train with no power would cause all sorts of headaches. As an alternative I decided to find a place for a coffee, power up for 40 minutes or so and get a later train. Unbelievably it took me 20 minutes of walking around Paddington to find an available socket. So frustrating.

Right, enough ranting about plug sockets. I can't believe I'm obsessing about them so much! Time to get on with some of that graft ...

An afternoon in the Lanes

2007-06-20T17:50:00.000-07:00

I think Brighton is a great place. It's got a certainly got a laid back feel. As if you're on holiday - especially when the sun's shining.

I'm not sure if it was this, but for some reason I've struggled to work effectively this afternoon. I've always known I get most done when I'm in pretty dull places. You know - airports, train stations, desk facing the wall. That kind of thing. Boring I know, but true.

To combat my rather lazy approach to work, I decided to head to the Brighton Lanes to work at a proper table and chair. Maybe this was some kind of subconscious attempt to replicate an office environment.

I headed for a place called Bill's. If anyone has yet to go to Bill's, I thoroughly recommend it. It's a greengrocer come organic cafe kind of place. Having been looking forward to it for some time, I struggled with the same problem as at the Tate - no plug sockets! Again both my phone and laptop were low on juice.

Fortunately I had enough battery to receive a call I'd been waiting for from Forum for the Future. We pitched these guys last week and knew we were down to the last two agencies. Brilliantly we've been awarded the contract. Less brilliantly whilst phoning the guys back in the office to let them know the battery died. Hopefully they'll have subscribed to this blog and will get an alert!

Anyway it looks like I've another minute or two before the laptop suffers the same fate, so I best sign off.

In summary for today:
Another good day of remote working. If all you need is access to web, ability to check mails and make the odd phone call, I reckon this t-mobile stuff is great. I'm not yet convinced it's great for the higher bandwidth stuff. Yet.

Brighton beach

2007-06-20T10:54:00.000-07:00

Another early start, but definitely worth it. Jumped on a train from Victoria to Brighton and managed to work pretty much the whole way down. Had a couple of patchy signal areas, but on the whole got stacks done.

As I said yesterday, I'm starting to get a kick out of this constant connection. We had a few teething issues, but now their ironed out I'm feeling I can get through loads of work.

On the train I found myself MSNing a pal in South Africa, chatting on the mobile to a client in Geneva and sending an email to the office. All at the same time. Who said guys can't multi-task?

Now sitting at the beach at Brighton. Not sure if I'll be able to embed a video into this blog, but if anyone is going to remote work down here, I strongly advice not to chose the table near the carousel. Not only do the horses go round and round, but in the last 30 minutes they've played the same tune a thousand times.

Mobile support crew

2007-06-19T16:44:00.000-07:00

The day kicked off with a breakfast meeting in Pimlico followed by a kick off session with a new client - Transport 2000. Quick lunch with some of the team who were in London and on to St James Park for an afternoon of 'mobile working'.

I'm currently writing this post crashed out on a deckchair, in the middle of a beautiful park, bang in the middle of London. It's easy to complain about the place, but not when it's like this. Working out the office this afternoon is a real joy.

Feeling a little self-conscious jabbering on the phone (especially as I'm surrounded by suits escaping the office for 5 mins of peace and quiet) I've successfully managed to catch up with the guys in the office as well as a few clients.

Back in the office we're in the midst of launching an entertainment and social network in partnership with Aardman as well as moving to the final stages of a Second Life project with WWF. In addition, we've also got some great new contracts to keep us out of trouble.

Fortunately all this mobile working malarkey is made a whole load easier with an office full of the most outrageously talented people to call on. In fact, I might get used to it.

In Summary:
All good on the technology front. Most of the morning in taxis - normally dead time for me - but even this has become working time. Enjoyed a bit of face-to-face interaction with the team. Nothing quite like it! Off to Brighton tomorrow ...

Mobile but powerless

2007-06-18T21:20:00.000-07:00

A week of working remotely. Covered by the FT. Sounds pretty straightforward.

In fact, it sounded so straightforward that this morning I was a little worried I'd have nothing to report on. Don't get me wrong - I'm interested in the 'mobile working' thing. It's just I normally spend a couple of days out the office each week. So, what makes this week any different? And what makes it sufficiently newsworthy for the FT to cover?

The new toys were picked up from Enable Interactive HQ bright and breezy this morning. Being more of a web guy than an IT guy, it took me a little longer than hoped to get up and running. Actually, it took me about 5 hours, which is probably some kind of record for 'simply' synching up a new phone and connecting a plug and play USB device. Hmmm, maybe this technology thing isn't so simple after all.

All sorted at around lunchtime and I managed to start my journey. First stop Tate Modern.

Having hammered my phone continuously for most of the morning, and tapping my laptop the entire journey from Bristol to London, I arrived at the Tate with flat batteries all round. As planned, I headed to the cafe where they'd kindly agreed to me working for the afternoon, but was told there was nowhere to plug in. In fact, the manager kindly pointed out there were no sockets I could use anywhere in the Tate Modern.

Brilliant! All the mobility I wanted, but without a plug I was completely stranded.

I ended making a quick stop at a book shop to recharge the phone - enough for a call in to the office - and headed to my hotel to get some graft done. Since then I've been trying to catch up on all the hours I lost in my day!

Quick summary:
Interesting technical challenges setting up all the gadgets. When it's all working it seems pretty sweet. Train journey proved incredibly effective with some good collaborative working with one of my account execs back in the office. One big problem - no matter how wireless you are, you're always constrained by the life of your battery.