Global conversations
If you were strolling into Central Park at the Columbus Circle entrance last Saturday morning you might have been surprised to see a Metropolitan Police car parked under the USS Maine monument. A hundred yards further in, you might have stopped short at the sight of three-score British police officers warming up for a light 14-mile jog round the southern loop. It was an extraordinary sight indeed, but one that … Read more »The Old Bill… in New York
Talk about feeling energised. As I fly back to New York from Houston, blogging about my time there is a good way to reflect on what I’ve just witnessed. Offshore Technology Conference is the largest energy conference on the planet with over 90,000 delegates. This is Texas after all: ‘big’ takes on a whole new meaning here. I was ready to be impressed with the British representation at the conference. … Read more »24 hours at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston – Britain has the power!
It is fitting that St. George’s Day, England’s national day, should coincide with the birthday of William Shakespeare, Britain’s greatest cultural icon. Despite his surviving works’ totalling fewer than a million words – making the whole kit and caboodle only three-quarters the length of Proust’s tome – they are the pillars of the language and the canon. People the world over read, perform, watch and listen to Shakespeare’s works every … Read more »Brush Up Your Shakespeare
On a trip to the UK during the first ten days of February, I had the pleasure of visiting the annual Spring Fair in Birmingham, the UK’s largest gift trade show. There I attended a “Meet the Buyer” event hosted by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) and the British Jewellery and Giftware Federation, which brought multiple small businesses together to meet with UKTI trade officers from over 30 countries in … Read more »3,000 miles for the perfect tea set!
It was during an Academy Awards ceremony presided over by Johnny Carson in 1982 that Colin Welland famously declared, “The British are coming!” Eeyores back home would have it that Welland’s battle-cry has turned out to be a bit of a damp squib, but the facts tell a different story. There’s actually been an awful lot to celebrate over the last 30 years. Of the Major Oscars since (you can … Read more »Oscars wild!
My first Super Bowl experience was transcribing the lyrics of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s half-time show in 2009 for Sky Sports’ subtitled output back in the UK. This, fortunately, required zero knowledge of how (American) football works – and played to my eternal love of The Boss. Since I moved to the US in 2011, though, it’s been harder to excuse my ignorance, and I was determined … Read more »Super-Duper Bowl
Last Thursday evening, I joined the UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) team in San Francisco and the “who’s who” of the technology and start up communities at the “Crunchies,” the veritable Oscars for tech companies. I’m not quite sure what I was expecting at an awards ceremony with 2,000 tech-gurus, but what I witnessed was an industry that celebrated innovation and success with pride. The tech industry is a confident … Read more »And the “Crunchie” goes to…
Moustaches have been a staple of British male identity for centuries. They can be comic (Basil Fawlty, Borat), serious (any of Daniel Day-Lewis’s efforts), musical (Freddie Mercury leaps enthusiastically to mind), even political (one thinks of Harold Macmillan’s full-bodied triumph). Handlebar, pencil, horseshoe, toothbrush… such variety of facial topiary means there’s something for everyone. Approval ratings may have dropped in the last few decades (outrageously, we went 40 years without … Read more »New York State of Mo
This week in New York, we at UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) have led a Digital Mission of 20 British tech start-ups looking at New York as an international expansion destination. For four days, we’ve connected them with key players in New York’s technology scene, including: like minded-entrepreneurs; potential partners; prospective clients; industry experts; media partners; and even futurologists! Attendees are also participating in IGNITION 2012, an inspiring conference organised … Read more »Calling all tech entrepreneurs
LONDON – British companies growing overseas learned about using social as a way to connect to potential clients and partners at Google’s campus in Tech City during Social Media Week London. The very well-connected and new-to-social crowd had the opportunity to engage with experts from government and industry. I had the opportunity to speak on the panel about using social to enter the US market, and have recapped some of … Read more »Using Social to Go Global