I’m just reading ‘Kill Your Friends’ by David Niven. It’s described by many reviewers as variations on the theme: ‘nasty’. And, whilst that’s most certainly true, it’s also brilliant. It is not necessarily for everyone, not least given the language and content, some of which is clearly intended to shock even a hardened reader, however […]
Author Archives: petegoold
Up Periscope
posted by petegoold
I’m emerging from the longest period of being away from work since we started the company in August 2003 – an unprecedented (almost) three weeks – and feel fantastic for it, particularly by comparison to how I have felt on returning from the Christmas break in previous years. We took the week before Christmas off […]
London vs Munich Hotels
posted by petegoold
I’ve been out a couple of days on the trot this week, what with Christmas parties and the usual weekly travel. We had a late night Wednesday and an early start on Thursday so I thought I’d stay in London that night before heading to Heathrow later Thursday. One of the Punch team found me […]
Movember, Week 2
posted by petegoold
Right, so Movember is now nearing the halfway park. The thing is now looking visible enough to be an irritant for me and sufficiently amusing for everyone else, but it hardly seems worthwhile at this point. Still, it’s been a bit of an icebreaker this week on a number of occasions and I remain game […]
The Wrong Kind of Petrolhead
posted by petegoold
There are people within the Punch team that are petrolheads – the kind that tend to like car valves, exhausts and alloys a little more than is deemed normal by most people. I’m not one of them. To me, cars are something that get one from A to B with the minimum of hassle – […]
I Have A Confession…
posted by petegoold
We’ve been out buying Harry Potter lego. It’s all under the guise of being a parent of course and I do admit that I do have certain leanings towards ‘buying the set’ (which I haven’t done, I hasten to add here – although it took some restraint on my part) – but there is a […]
PR, Search and Social Media Jobs at Punch
posted by petegoold
On a different point altogether, work is still crazy. Lots of travel and lots of excitement on a daily basis. We’ve just posted a couple of new job ads – as we’re now offering PR Jobs, SEO Jobs and Social Media jobs. If you know of anyone, please do get in touch – recruitment remains […]
Pour Some Sugar On Me (In The Name Of Love)
posted by petegoold
I’ve realised that Copenhagen has quickly become my favourite airport. It’s clean, hassle free and, on a good day, I can now go from walking into the building to getting through security in about ten minutes. Possibly my favourite aspect of the airport though is the Danish guys that await the other side. There’s an […]
Laptop Battery Woes
posted by petegoold
I’ve bought a new laptop this week, which frankly was a fairly expensive exercise that was primarily to address one issue – battery life. I bought a spare battery for my current machine for just over £100 a few months ago but it seems to have made minimal difference so obviously the old one wasn’t […]
Was The Times’ App Really Ready?
posted by petegoold
Whilst I’ve been playing with The Times’ ipad app since its launch, I think I’ve now reached the conclusion that it’s simply not the best way to read the paper. On the one hand there’s the lack of choice and personal flexibility. Clearly from News International’s perspective, that’s the point – indeed I’m currently subscribing […]
Stimulants & I
posted by petegoold
So, I’m back to my favourite subject – sleep – once again. Or, at least, the effect of specific stimulants on the quality of my sleep and therefore my life in general. Post-holiday, I’ve now consolidated my abstention of booze with the added sacrifice of caffeine – or at least, caffeine in it’s most potent […]
Typically Dramatic
posted by petegoold
We’ve decided to come on holiday in the UK rather than going abroad – with all the benefits and risks that are respectively associated. On the plus side, we haven’t had to travel too far with the little ones. On the downside we’ve had iffy weather all week, with rain all day today for example. […]
Advanced Web Rankings
posted by petegoold
I’ve just found a terrific keyword research tool which looks like it might save us a good deal of time and hassle moving forwards – http://www.advancedwebranking.com. We have been put onto the service by an industry contact and I’m always a little sceptical about using automated services, not least when we currently take a great […]
Oh, The Irony
posted by petegoold
I’ve had a bit of a night of it. Although we have taken our eldest daughter to a couple of festivals (the Big Chill, twice), it’s impossible to take two of them at their age – or at least highly impractical. Nevertheless, every Glastonbury weekend, I try and watch as much of it as I […]
Bone Dry
posted by petegoold
I’m now six months in to having been teetotal, which started out as a attempt to have a healthy January and has rolled on subsequently. Having done this once before, also for about six months, I will confess to feeling pretty good – although not evangelical, which I find pretty irritating – about the benefits […]
The Times’ iPad App
posted by petegoold
OK, so I thought it was strange at the time. The Guardian giving away ‘free content for life’ on the basis of a £2.39 download (iphone) app seemed too good to be true. The only way it could possibly make sense commercially is if it the app continually attracts new users and doesn’t take revenue […]
Moving Into The Cloud
posted by petegoold
This week, the rate of change has quickened significantly at Punch. We’ve had a couple more people join in the last two weeks, several major projects confirm go-ahead (divided relatively across the PR, Search and Social areas, which is ideal) and the recruitment process had shifted up through several gears, not least to accommodate our […]
Disinformation
posted by petegoold
I’m taking perverse pleasure in withholding information this week about our forthcoming team day out. Current guesses range from white water rafting to working at a soup kitchen. None are close. The process of disinformation is particularly satisfying – I’ve casually asked how people feel heights a few times, which has resulted in lots of […]
May 10th: Save The Date
posted by petegoold
The launch of the iPad in international markets has been pushed back to late May – although apparently this means that both the wifi and the 3G+wifi versions will launch simultaneously (on Orange, Vodafone and O2 apparently). This week I briefly considered seeing if it was possible to get hold of one from the US […]
A New Love
posted by petegoold
Just back from a full two weeks away, which have been extremely restful. In particular, I’ve discovered an hitherto unrealised love of Lego. The fruits of our labour during the first week are certainly a far cry from the blocky monstrosities that I remember from my childhood…
Hit Pause
posted by petegoold
The last week or so before holiday is always berserk – and this week has been no different. With three new joiners in the last few weeks, a leaver today and a couple of major new projects onboarding right now, the adage that ‘it’s never a good time’ is perhaps more applicable than normal at […]
Shooting Up
posted by petegoold
The first two months of the year have shot past – baby Goold is now steaming around everywhere causing trouble, mini Goold is halfway through her second term at school (as a result of which I’ve had to endure the emotionally-charged prospect of her first two school discos) and once again, England are being hopleless […]
A Cloud Descends Over Welford Road
posted by petegoold
I went to the rugby last night – and it was the most dire game I’ve ever seen. There was no atmosphere, the teams lacked any intensity and, all in all, it was a shocker. Ironically, we left with 7 minutes to go and the scores shot up from about 11-3 to 27-11 in the […]
Discoveries To Report
posted by petegoold
A couple of discoveries to report – firstly I’ve been playing with the new Guardian iPhone App this week. In short, it’s excellent. Whilst clearly it’s not going to replace the printed page, I can’t believe how much content you can get for a one off purchase of £2.39. There’s no doubt in my mind […]
Understanding The Distinctions Between Social Communities
posted by petegoold
I’ve been thinking about and playing with Linkedin a good deal this week, which has made me reflect on the different nature of the my relationships across the three major community-oriented social sites that I use most frequently – ie Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. Whilst we’ve written previously about the clear demographic distinctions between social […]
Over & Out
posted by petegoold
I’ve been pulling back for the last few days and although there are still a few emails to be answered, Christmas is looming – and for the first time in 6 years I’m taking a full two weeks off with the family. Personally I want nothing more than time – spent with the girls and […]
Finding More Hours
posted by petegoold
This week my body clock has steadfastly refused to accept local time (Pacific, ie 8hrs behind the UK) to the extent that with two days to go, I really no longer want to acclimatise before turning around and going home. To be fair it has allowed me to wake up, typically between 4am and 5:30pm […]
Overseas Email
posted by petegoold
I’m flying to the US tomorrow to spend the next week with clients Reality Digital and for a couple of new business meetings. Given the time difference and the inevitable conversations with the UK, it’s always a long day – but one of the interesting elements that I’ve noticed the last few times I’ve been […]
The One Day Wonder Of Pocket God
posted by petegoold
I’ve just discovered Pocket God, a 99c/59p app for the iphone which is currently in it’s 28th iteration since launch a year or so back. Clearly I’m not alone in loving this app – it has a huge following online. For a 35 year old I’ve got a fairly extensive gaming history – albeit one […]
A Double Week
posted by petegoold
An evident theme of this blog is the recurring fact that I’m continually shattered. Over the last week, my wife has graduated, my youngest has been christened, one daughter has been in hospital and the other has had a four day fever. Coupled with which, Emma’s parents are with us for the week, so whilst […]
Rest? Easy…
posted by petegoold
I’ve had back problems for about the last month or so now and I’ve got to say that it’s really starting to get on my nerves (ahem). Not entirely sure what caused it but it’s coincided with a pretty heavy stint in the gym which seems to have fooled me into thinking that I could […]
Cabs vs Tube
posted by petegoold
I’ve never been one for taking cabs when I can catch the tubes but in the last few weeks I seem to be jumping from one meeting to the next, both for timekeeping reasons and to keep on top of things inbetween meetings. Despite being busy enough to warrant this it still feels hugely indulgent […]
The Verdict
posted by petegoold
We headed to Welford Road for the first Tigers home match of the season yesterday – and the first with the new stand. Although the designers have gone for an unashamed grey breeze block motif throughout – which seems unavoidable with modern stadia, presumably for financial reasons – the set up and facilities are undeniably […]
Noise Pollution
posted by petegoold
Our eldest daughter’s starting school next Monday and, to make the best of her last few pre-school days, Emma decided to take the girls away for a few days to a cottage in Suffolk. Normally, wild horses couldn’t keep me away but having just taken a fair bit of holiday it just wasn’t practical or […]
10 Years On
posted by petegoold
Last Friday I left London early and jumped on the train to head to Borth in West Wales for a couple of days with my family, who were there already. Although it was a five hour mission across the country, it was well worth it, not least for the day of seaside sunshine I was […]
The Art of Punching (Something)
posted by petegoold
My eight week exploration of whether I can find time to crowbar a visit to the gym into my life every other day seems to be going better than expected. I’ve been seeing a personal trainer for most of my visits, which is a fairly huge extravagance for me – but about the only personal […]
Caffeine & A Very Long Week
posted by petegoold
Lots has been made of Google’s new algorithm Caffeine this week, with the forthcoming changes making ripples to the online search community to the forthcoming changes (which can be trialled). I picked up on an interesting piece from a blog yesterday in which we were mentioned, commented and only later realised that it was Australian. […]
A Transatlantic Cultural Dichotomy
posted by petegoold
So, I’ve finally lasted out my Vodafone contract and have made the switch over to 02, a move which I assume many continue to make despite Vodafone’s best yet failing efforts to the contrary, simply on the basis of demand for the iPhone. Despite the fact that it clearly looks beautiful and I’m pretty keen […]
A Summer First
posted by petegoold
So, Thursday was a very strange day indeed. A week or so back I was given the opportunity to snap up a couple of last minute hospitality places for the Ashes test matches over the next few weeks and, despite having little or no interest in cricket and literally having never been to a cricket […]
Pasties, Cider & A 14ft Swell
posted by petegoold
We decided to break up the journey down to Cornwall, thinking that 5 hours would probably become 10 through the stops required with two little people in the car. So, we’ve been in-situ since Friday morning. This time last year the weather was glorious – unfortunately the rain for the first 48 hours this year […]
The Girls’ Afternoon
posted by petegoold
It’s been a top day today. At Christmas, I bought my other half and the other girls at Punch some tickets to see Take That at Wembley tonight, knowing full well that I’d have to take the majority of the day off to look after our two girls. As might have been expected, it wasn’t […]
Switching Off
posted by petegoold
Despite being on the losing side – and not thinking terribly positive thoughts about our opponents given some of what went on – yesterday’s match against South Africa was, I think, the best game of rugby I’ve ever seen. Stephen Jones described it, perfectly, in The Sunday Times as ‘epic’. Indeed. Not sure whether I […]
Getting Back On The Horse
posted by petegoold
This week, I’ve taken the situation in hand and joined a local gym – although I use the term local loosely as it’s 15 – 20 minutes away, which may well present itself as a factor in my attendance at some point in time. Having joined on Tuesday, I’ve found a couple of hours on […]
What Happens When You’re Permanently Out of Office?
posted by petegoold
It’s been a long week this week, having trawled the country, from London Monday to Leicester then Liverpool, on to Birmingham and then London again Friday. OK, so I had a day in the office on Wednesday and therefore shouldn’t complain but it has literally been a week of shooting from one meeting to the […]
Just Discovered That You Can Now Post By Email
posted by petegoold
So, I’m testing out this new feature. Looking forward to a weekend of family life and a huge day of rugby tomorrow. I suspect that this morning’s 5am start heralds more of the same (I found myself watching NHL at 5:15am with the little one) – but there’s lots to look forward to tomorrow, with […]
Living Without Money
posted by petegoold
If someone had said to me at the start of the week: “If you give me £x, you can have whatever you want, whenever you want it, all week.”, I would have thought that ‘x’ (the cost of perennial contentedness?) would have been at least three times and perhaps even five times the sum that we ended up paying, if not more. In other words, I think I need more than I actually do to be highly content – which is, in itself, a revelation.
A Real Out Of Office Message
posted by petegoold
Delighted to be putting my actual out of office message on for the first time in a while as I’m flying to Spain with my girls for a week this weekend. It’s been a crazy start to 2009, we have another new person joining on Monday and are recruiting again. The great thing is that […]
The Last Stand
posted by petegoold
Earlier this week I spoke at a regional branch of the Institute of Directors, over breakfast, in front of a small audience of 40 or so, about the power of ‘PR 2.0’ and how it can make a potentially significant impact on the bottom line. Whilst it’s a subject I’m hugely passionate about, this doesn’t […]
The Dark Side Of The Recruitment Industry
posted by petegoold
So, recently, I overcame my reluctance to work with the recruitment sector and commissioned three consultants to help us with our recruitment needs. To be fair, I’ve created decent relationships with all three and one of the three actually appears to have a great deal of integrity. We found someone and hired her through the […]
The Inflatables Are OUT
posted by petegoold
OK, so i’ll be the first to admit that my fitness is currently not what it was, due to the combination of long days, hectic nights with our youngest and, fundamentally, a lack of time to get to the pool. What was a three-times-a-week habit has now dropped off to once a month, unfortunately. So, […]
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