What a week!!
Colleagues from Beijing, Tokyo, Düsseldorf, Denmark, London and New York descended on our headquarters in Leeds for a week of global meetings, culminating in our awards ceremony.
Despite the very difficult economic climate, I was so overwhelmed at the positivity from people in our worldwide network of offices. Going out for dinner and sitting around a table with 8 different nationalities (I am ashamed to say all communicating in English) was so very interesting. The consensus is there is still a huge amount of work to win and opportunities are still great for our business.
This has made up for a depressing shopping expedition to every men’s outfitters in Manchester, and discovering what I see in the mirror is not reflected in the size tickets. I have to admit I bought a new bow tie and wore the faithful blue velvet jacket.
The atmosphere at the Awards Ceremony was electric. What knocked me out was the fact that out of a work force of approx 280 people, 86 of the staff had bothered to nominate a colleague.
Borat flew in from Kazakhstan to entertain us and we all learned to dance the national Kazakhstan dance. I have to admit I did get a number of compliments on the way I moved.
Had to publicly make an apology. One of our staff from Leeds told me how much she enjoyed working for thebigword and then bluntly asked me “I have been working her since April 2008. What is my name?” I fumbled, she didn’t seem satisfied, but I get my own children’s names mixed up and finally admitted I didn’t know it. Although I certain won’t forget Hannah in the future!
One of the reasons I am doing this blog is to get to know as many of you as possible, and later on our translators and customers. So I am going to try harder and actually next time introduce yourself to me, wave your hand, call me over or send me your comments on this blog. I do believe you don’t even have to leave your name.
Later this week I will update you on our think tank weekend in New York, not just giving you updates on the business issues, but what went on behind the scenes.
Have a great weekend.
Despite the very difficult economic climate, I was so overwhelmed at the positivity from people in our worldwide network of offices. Going out for dinner and sitting around a table with 8 different nationalities (I am ashamed to say all communicating in English) was so very interesting. The consensus is there is still a huge amount of work to win and opportunities are still great for our business.
This has made up for a depressing shopping expedition to every men’s outfitters in Manchester, and discovering what I see in the mirror is not reflected in the size tickets. I have to admit I bought a new bow tie and wore the faithful blue velvet jacket.
The atmosphere at the Awards Ceremony was electric. What knocked me out was the fact that out of a work force of approx 280 people, 86 of the staff had bothered to nominate a colleague.
Borat flew in from Kazakhstan to entertain us and we all learned to dance the national Kazakhstan dance. I have to admit I did get a number of compliments on the way I moved.
Had to publicly make an apology. One of our staff from Leeds told me how much she enjoyed working for thebigword and then bluntly asked me “I have been working her since April 2008. What is my name?” I fumbled, she didn’t seem satisfied, but I get my own children’s names mixed up and finally admitted I didn’t know it. Although I certain won’t forget Hannah in the future!
One of the reasons I am doing this blog is to get to know as many of you as possible, and later on our translators and customers. So I am going to try harder and actually next time introduce yourself to me, wave your hand, call me over or send me your comments on this blog. I do believe you don’t even have to leave your name.
Later this week I will update you on our think tank weekend in New York, not just giving you updates on the business issues, but what went on behind the scenes.
Have a great weekend.
