Archive for June 2009
The Elusive “Job Title”
I’ve now been back at Powwownow in my freshly-graduated state since last September. Out of the many challenges I’ve been faced with in that time, none has proved as insuperable as answering the inevitable question: “So, what exactly is it that you do?”
That’s not to say I haven’t been busy. My list of activities is as diverse as it is incomprehensible (to that attractive girl serving me drinks): writing command-line PHP scripts to forward fax e-mails, writing Javascript IVR applications, configuring SIP phones, managing the office VOIP server, repeatedly rebooting PCs, flat-packing cardboard boxes, changing lightbulbs…
Amsterdam – beer, frites, sun and conference calling!
Posted by Casey Williams in Opinions on 26th June 2009
With 12 new websites to roll out – actually make that 11 now that the Powwownow German website went live on Wednesday – you may well wonder how Andrew Pearce, CEO and myself managed to get two days out of the office to jet off to Amsterdam.
Well with the temptation of Dutch beer, cheese, frites and canals plus the perfect excuse of meetings with a new marketing agency and potential partner, it was easy!
With the Dutch conference calling market being the fourth largest in Europe behind the UK, Germany and France, we were aware of the opportunity to treble Powwownow’s share in the marketplace in the next couple of years and expand our international brand presence. So with the help of local knowledge, contacts and language skills we’ll be able to launch another new website, communicate more effectively with existing and potential customers and be recognised and recommended as the fastest growing free teleconferencing provider in Europe.
So cheers to Amsterdam! Proost!
Authentic Italian food
Sometime it is not so simple to identify the authenticity of the food we buy. In fact all the main grouceries like to put strange labels reporting false and misleading information regarding the origin of the product.
In reality it is very simple to check the origin of the food we buy at the supermarket, the only thing you have to do is reading the bar code printed on the back of the package. The first part – that usually is put on the left before the industry manufacturing and the item number – tells us where the product has been made.
You think your career is bad
Posted by John.Routledge in Opinions on 25th June 2009
Well I’ve now been in my current job for a year now, and apart from leaving my beloved South Shields for the bright lights of Richmond on Thames, all is well. Got me thinking though about some of my previous career moves including portaloo cleaner, pidgeon culling and DSS House clearing. Some of these are pretty minging, and wondered where they rank in the Top 10 worst jobs. So if your thinking you have got a bad rap then check these out. Oh and as it happens I’m in the top three.
- Roadkill Collector. Pretty self-explanatory. These guys not only have the job of peeling the remains of dead critters in various forms of decay off the road, they also get to do it whilst in the path of oncoming traffic.
- Manure Inspector. Manure is an important natural fertilizer, but first it has to be checked for contaminants like E.coli and salmonella. That’s where manure inspectors come in. Not only do they get to search for bacteria that causes diarrhoea and puke if ingested, they also get to wade through animal poo.
Innovation in accounts department
Posted by Daniela.Skopal in Opinions on 25th June 2009
June is being very exciting time for all of us in accounts department due to an introduction of automated invoicing system.
Huge applause and many thnaks to all involved in such a difficult task.
Richmond!
Posted by Mark.Wiseman in Opinions on 24th June 2009
As you may or may not know, the PowWowNow office is located in Richmond Upon Thames. If you have never been to Richmond, it is not only a nice place to work it is also a very nice place to visit. To entertain and amuse you all, here are five ‘fascinating’ facts about Richmond:
- There are lots of Richmond’s all over the world, nearly all are named after Richmond Upon Thames, but Richmond Upon Thames is named after Richmond in Yorkshire.
- Richmond, Virginia got its name after someone was up a hill there, looked down and thought it looks like the view from the top of the hill in Richmond Upon Thames.
- Novelist Virginia Woolf lived in the house next door to the PowWowNow offices. Richard Attenborough, Mick Jagger, Brian May, Amanda Holden, Ronnie Wood and Henry VIII are also all reported to have lived in Richmond.
- Marc Bolan of T.Rex fame sadly died in the borough after being involved in a car crash in Barnes.
- At the highest point in Richmond park you can see all the way to the way to St Paul’s Cathedral. This view has been protected by law since 1710. In 2005 the mayor of London (Ken Livingstone) tried to overturn this law to make way for city development; the views fate is still undecided.
New House
We finally moved to the new house, further away from London, seeking the quiet life. In the previous place it sounded like we were living just across the road from the police station. Sirens were on all the time, morning, afternoon, night, you name it! This is not the main reason why we moved though, we simply wanted a bigger place with a greener grass and more surrounding wild life. Speaking of wild life, just the next day after we moved we found in the garden a long trail of feathers, like someone had a long heavy fight! We were now worried that the wild life was too close, but it didn’t take long to see who did the mess in our garden: the neighbour’s fluffy cat!
I wonder who got sacrificed in the first night in the new garden…
Midsummer festival, anyone?
Posted by Juha.Jantunen in Events on 19th June 2009
Tomorrow, in Finland, it is the midsummer’s day and today is a national day-off. Nowadays this celebration starts by first driving hours and hours in unimaginable congestion at the average speed of 20kph at scorching temperatures with your family or friends to reach a summer cottage in country-side hundreds of Kilometres away. The weekend is then spent barbecuing, drinking, spending time by the lake and it all comes to it’s climax at the Friday-evening when the Bonfires are lit. This madness is called “Juhannus” in Finnish.
More traditionally the midsummer day was the time for many small rituals, mostly for young maidens seeking suitors and fertility and before the celebrations were Christianised it was called “Ukon Juhla” after the Finnish God “Ukko”. Even in modern days some people exercise this folk magic – just for fun thought. Lots of traditions are still alive: sauna, bonfires (called “Juhannus kokko” in Finnish), young birch trees are put by the front doors to invite visitors, just to name but a few. The midsummer day is the longest day in the year and due to Finland’s geographic location this practically means a really short night or no night at all!
So, Hyvää Juhannusta Kaikille! :)
Costly Face to Face Meetings
Posted by Powwownowteam in Opinions on 18th June 2009
We often talk about the cost effectiveness of voice conferencing over face-to-face meetings and I recently had cause to remember a personal experience. Nine years ago, I was working for a software reseller dealing with enterprise solutions. Most of the software was American and Bill the CEO of our main partner company was coming over to the UK. Keen to impress him and to take advantage of his presence, we set about arranging meetings for him with both existing Clients and potential prospects. Key amongst all these appointments were two in Manchester, one with a rather large Cereal producer and the other with a rather large public body, the only problem we faced was that the meetings were arranged for the day he arrived in the UK from Dallas.
Timing was critical and not helped by the fact that Bill was flying in to Gatwick and the only flights we could get to Manchester were departing from Heathrow. On the fateful morning I picked a colleague up from her house and drove to Gatwick to wait for Bill to land (in theory at 7:30 am). The plan was a quick dash round the M25 (asking for problems) to get us to Heathrow with plenty of time to catch the flight to Manchester. Now there’s a reason for the expression “sods law”, Bills flight was delayed and eventually landed one hour and fifteen minutes late. We still had a chance to make the connecting flight, so the CEO of a major USA software company changed into fresh cloths behind my car in a multi-storey car park and off we shot.
Bucas’ first Haircut
Posted by Andrew Pearce in Opinions on 15th June 2009
Thinking I’m either Toni or Guy i made the mistake of attempting to cut Bucas’ Hair, a job that i thought would take just 30 minutes!!! 2 hours later and
a bin bag full of hair. I stood back to admire my handy work see attached photo. Neither owner or Dog will be venturing out the house for the next 2-3 weeks.
Andy
PS off for some hair-restorer
