Dan Germain

being interesting - please help

This Saturday 12th September 2009 I will speak at interesting.

I haven't been able to go in the last couple of years, so it'll be my first time attending as well. I have no idea what to talk about so I thought that if anyone was reading this they could help me decide. This is the shortlist:

• Beards and how they have made me think differently
• My Granddad and why he was a champion
• I hate jugs
• Living under martial law - Indonesia, 1998
• Why I'll never write a proper book

If you have a preference or indeed another suggestion, I would appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks.

three questions

First question – why are there so many books about how we should all lead more sustainable lives? Shouldn't rule one be "write/buy fewer books because they're made out of paper"?

And I know lots of these books are printed on recycled paper or stock from FSC sources, but still, isn't there a smarter way of telling people that you're green? If so, what is it?

Second question – do you know a good place to get cheap Polaroid film? I hear they've stopped making it and want to stock up. And I've tried eBay (they have some but the supply is a little sporadic/transatlantic). Anywhere else I should be looking?

Third question – should I put the tomato plants outside yet? This mini cold snap has go me confused.

contacts, should you need them

While I was in Manchester, I talked to lots of people. Most of them wanted to know what the secret of starting a successful business is. I don't really have any smart answers. I usually say things like "have a great idea", "keep it really simple", "don't ever expect to get rich" and "stay away from the import/export of live animals, unless you have the correct licence."

None of these are very useful, but they're true.

The people who ask for help and advice always give me their business cards, just in case. So I thought I would start posting their business cards up here. After all, there may be a product or service here that one of you (the reader) might be interested in. It's kind of like speed networking, but with much less chance of things happening. Oh well.

annual reports and what they mean

Has anyone ever written an annual report? Or designed one? Or know anything at all about them? We're thinking of doing one at innocent, in a not entirely serious fashion, because that might prove to be a little dull. But if any of you fine people knows anything about them, or even fancy making a pithy comment about a particular favourite, I'm all ears.

save yourself £600

For those who couldn't afford £600 to go to the Applied Green conference the other day, here's something from the people at Thoughtful.

We recently attended the Applied Green conference organised by Haymarket. Everyone at Thoughtful would have liked to have attended such an important event, with such notable speakers, but the ticket price meant we had to draw straws – James won.

So everyone didn't miss out, James took with him a small camera and an ipod to record some of the speakers just for everyone back at the studio.

And, being Thoughtful we'd thought it was a good idea to share these talks with other people who couldn't attend.

Of course, we wouldn't do this without the permission of the speakers themselves – and we're pleased to say, everyone thinks it's a great idea, and is very happy to have their talk blogged.

There's plenty of coughing and hissing on these recordings (the hissing is down to our basic kit, not an angry audience), so we'd suggest plugging in a set of headphones to listen to them. And, if you want to read a transcript of these talks, several of the speakers have already posted them on their own blogs.

Here's a link:

http://wearethoughtful.com/AP.html

I'd just like to add that the people from Thoughtful often send me interesting ideas and thoughts. They are indeed very thoughtful.

photo from FreeDigitalPhotos.net

help required

I need to think of 20 things you'd find at a village fete.

Even if you can only think of one, post it as a comment.

I promise I'll do you a favour in return. Whatever it takes.

pic from Brampton Parish Council

school trip

Hello smart people. I have a question.

I am currently trying to organise a special day out for nine or ten smart creative people from the place where I work. It's going to be in London, it happens in mid-February and the aim of the game is to take them to places and show them things that will inspire them and make them a think a bit more about how they approach creative/design jobs in the future.

A bit of stimulation is what I'm after. A school trip for creatives.

So, what do you reckon? Can you recommend some good places? They don't have to be galleries or museums (although either of those would be great). Might be a company or agency that would be willing to show us how they do stuff for a short while. Or something quite unconnected. I guess I'm asking you if you've ever been somewhere in London that lit a creative fire deep inside your being.

I have some ideas but you lot are much cleverer than me and have probably done this sort of thing before. So I'd be dead grateful for any suggestions. Thanks in advance for your help.

PS if you know of any nice restaurants that have a remotely creative/design theme (or that just look really nice) I'd love to hear about those too.