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08-12/2023 Five different international competitions

Worked at loads of football matches, on a few occasions doing three in the same week (Tuesday – Wednesday – Thursday). PSV in qualifiers for the Champions League, Feyenoord and PSV in the group stage, Ajax in the Europa League, AZ in the Conference League, the Dutch national team in EURO 24 qualifiers, Ajax women in the Women’s Champions League…

Welcome!

See below for stuff I've done recently. For more general info, follow this link

11/2023

Journeys to Andalusia and Thailand

The journey to Andalusia was a first – we’d done a similar route with our own team in 2021, but never this one with a client. A group of approximately 30 participants took the plunge. Some spectacular downhill mountain biking and a fabulous session with the Straits of Gibraltar and the mountains of northern Morocco as a backdrop.

In the same month we took an executive team to Thailand – despite (or because of) the torrential rain, voracious jungle leeches and half-flooded camp, it went fine.

10/2023

World Usability Congress

In October I once again attended the World Usability Congress in Graz. Wasn’t speaking this time, but I was asked by the organiser Hannes Robier to attend the panel session on Change by Design and then write a report on it for inclusion in his annual trend report. I also helped Mirjam Wouters with her presentation and dragged her up a mountain as well.

Scottish word of the moment

Mick: Scotland has its own rhyming slang. There are three things that make it unique. The first is local cultural references (so we would say: what’s the Hampden? Because Hampden is short for Hampden roar, which rhymes with score). The second is pronunciation. If someone is a bit hard of hearing you say they are corned beef, because that rhymes with how we often pronounce deaf (the same vowel sounds as thief). Mick is short for Mick Jagger, and thus lager - but only if you say it in a Scottish accent. The third aspect is the use of Scottish phrases. So going for a single doesn’t mean trying to find a partner, it means having a pee. Single is short for single fish (which is a fish without chips), and that rhymes with pish, our elegant way of describing a number 1.

Among other things

I do a lot more than just writing. For example, I present (my own stories) at conferences, like the World Usability Congress in Graz. 

Word Crimes

Why is decent writing important? 'Word Crimes' reveals all...